George Boughey’s Soprano has the Duchess Of Cambridge Stakes in her sights after an encouraging Royal Ascot performance.

The chestnut daughter of Starspangledbanner won on debut in a Newmarket maiden in May, beating subsequent Hilary Needler winner Midnight Affair, and was then an admirable third in the Albany Stakes.

On the latter occasion she was two lengths behind the winner, Porta Fortuna, and a length behind Aidan O’Brien’s Matrika, since successful in the Group Two Airlie Stud Stakes at the Curragh.

Soprano will also be making the step up from Group Three to Group Two level when she heads to the July course on Friday.

Harry Herbert, of owners Highclere Thoroughbred Racing, said: “She’s in great form, she runs in the Group Two at Newmarket – the Duchess of Cambridge.

“That’s very much the plan, with Ryan Moore booked to ride.

“There’s been a really good form boost and she’s a very smart filly.

“I think she will be even better over further which is exciting for the future, but she’s in good form and I think a stiff six at Newmarket will suit her.

“She ran such a blinder at Royal Ascot, William (Buick) said that had things gone a bit differently, had she broken better and been a bit nearer the pace, then she might have gone very near to winning.

“We’ll see, she deserves to take her chance and she’s very exciting.”

Sonny Liston will be attempting to land a knockout blow at York on Saturday when he lines up in the John Smith’s Cup.

Ralph Beckett’s charge was outboxed by stablemate Jimi Hendrix when second in the Royal Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot but now has the chance to get the judge’s verdict as one of 33 who remain in contention for the valuable £200,000 contest.

Owned by Chelsea Thoroughbreds, the four-year-old has not had his hand raised since striking on debut when trained by Charlie Hills, but connections are banking on the gelding relishing a step up to 10 furlongs to return him to the winner’s enclosure.

“He runs off his old mark and we wanted to get him in somewhere off that mark,” said Emma Spencer, managing director of Chelsea Thoroughbreds and also racing manager for the owners.

“He’s proven over a mile and a quarter and although he didn’t stay in the Derby, he was third at Chester in the Dee Stakes and then he was third in a Group Three at Goodwood.

“So there is a case for saying that a mile and a quarter is his ideal trip and if he runs like he did the other day and he seems to be in a good place then the race could really suit him.”

Richard Fahey’s course-and-distance winner and last year’s fourth Spirit Dancer is also among the possibles for the historic 10-furlong handicap, with Simon and Ed Crisford’s Sea The Casper, William Haggas’ Amleto and Andrew Balding’s Nobel all potential improvers who head to the Knavesmire appearing unexposed and on the back of victories last time.

Also looking to go one better than at Royal Ascot is Kerdos who will line-up in the John Smith’s City Walls Stakes.

The three-year-old son of Profitable was downed late on by Rhythm N Hooves when a silver medallist in the Palace of Holyroodhouse Stakes and trainer Clive Cox hopes he can get in the mix once again as he steps up to Listed level.

“Kerdos ran a blinder at Ascot and the Listed race at York, the City Walls Stakes, that would be our next target for him,” said the Lambourn-based handler.

“Obviously it is against older horses, but he’s a progressive three-year-old who we are really happy is going the right way.

“We know the family very well. I trained his sire Profitable and he’s out of a half-sister to Priceless who was a Group Two winner in the Temple Stakes at Haydock. They normally progress with age and this fella seems to fit that profile well.”

Kerdos is one of 17 possible runners for the five-furlong Listed event, with Edward Bethell’s Regional chief featuring in the opposition following his Achilles Stakes victory at Haydock last month.

Achilles second and third Equilateral (Charlie Hills) and Raasel (Mick Appleby) are also involved, while Fahey’s Great State was a winner of the Listed Westow Stakes over course and distance during the Dante meeting and will be bidding to provide his Malton-based handler with more success at one of his local tracks.

The British Grand Prix is closing in on a deal to secure its long-term future, with the head of Motorsport UK David Richards insisting it is “just a matter of time” before a new contract is announced.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen extended his winning streak, with Lando Norris holding off Lewis Hamilton in a thrilling battle between the two British drivers, at Silverstone on Sunday.

However, a five-year £100million contract signed off by Formula One’s American owners’ Liberty Media, Silverstone and the British Racing Drivers’ Club, which owns the Northamptonshire venue, in 2019 is up for renewal next season.

The British Grand Prix has been an ever present on the F1 calendar, dating back more than 70 years, with Silverstone staging the sport’s first world championship race.

But Motorsport UK chairman Richards said: “I don’t think there is any question that the deal will get done. Both the BRDC and Liberty are keen to see that resolved and it is just a matter of time.

“We were hoping it would be announced this weekend – that wasn’t the case – but that is not because there is no willingness to get it done.”

A record crowd in excess of 150,000 people watched Verstappen’s sixth consecutive win on Sunday, with nearly half-a-million fans in attendance at Silverstone over the course of the weekend.

Liberty has flirted with the idea of staging a street race in London, but a number of roadblocks have thwarted any serious progress.

Speaking to the PA news agency, Silverstone managing director Stuart Pringle said: “We don’t have a new contract yet.

“But we are the most sustainable race in the championship – by virtue of having seven out of 10 teams located nearby, so there is no long-haul aviation.

“We have got 2,700 solar panels powering the Paddock Club. We have a huge recycling operation here and that is very important to F1 in helping them achieve their net zero carbon 2030 target.

“We have radically improved our entertainment programme. The races are thrilling and they get excellent television audiences. It is very popular with sponsors and VIPs. The Paddock Club is in the top two or three of all the races that Formula One sell every year.

“And for the last four years that F1 has surveyed its fans after every race, Silverstone have won those customer surveys, and by some margin too.

“So I struggle to know what more we can do if that is not enough. We are really enjoying working with F1 at the moment. The product is fantastic. Privately F1 are recognising our efforts and I hope publicly they are too.”

Beatriz Haddad Maia was left in tears after she was forced to retire during her fourth-round match with defending champion Elen Rybakina.

The Brazilian was enjoying her best run at Wimbledon, having never previously got past the second round, but hopes of a first quarter-final appearance were taken away from her when she suffered a hip injury early in the first set.

She had a lengthy medical timeout trailing 3-1 and tried to carry on but after being unable to move during a Rybakina service game it was clear that she could not continue.

Having been in tears throughout the last game, she reluctantly walked to the net and shook hands with the score at 4-1.

It meant that Rybakina’s smooth progress continued as she was on court for just 21 minutes and will now be able to put her feet up to watch Ons Jabeur and Petra Kvitova battle it out for the chance to play her in the quarter-finals.

Teenager Mirra Andreeva was given a point penalty for throwing her racket and refused to shake the umpire’s hand in a fourth-round loss to Madison Keys at Wimbledon.

The 16-year-old Russian, who has been a crowd favourite on her debut at the All England Club, looked set to become the youngest player since Anna Kournikova in 1997 to make the quarter-finals here when she led by a set and 4-1.

But Keys fought back and Andreeva was given her first warning by umpire Julie Kjendlie after flinging her racket across the grass when she lost the second-set tie-break.

She then appeared to throw her racket again when Keys forced deuce at 2-5 in the deciding set, earning a second warning and an automatic point penalty, which gave her opponent a match point.

Andreeva argued her case with Kjendlie, saying: “Do you understand what you are doing? I didn’t throw the racket. I slid. It’s the wrong decision. I slid and then I fell.”

But the decision stood and Keys won the next point to clinch a 3-6 7-6 (4) 6-2 victory, with Andreeva heading to the net to shake hands with her opponent but walking straight past the umpire.

Andreeva had feared being defaulted after whacking a ball angrily into the crowd at the French Open and teenage petulance is something she will clearly need to grow out of, but there is no doubt she is a special talent.

She had not played on grass until the qualifying tournament two weeks ago but she has learned quickly on the surface and her mix of terrific defence and intelligent point construction will win her a lot of matches.

For nearly an hour she was completely in control, with Keys, who possesses one of the most natural ball strikes in the game but can be very erratic, making error after error.

The American pulled herself together just in time, changing her tactics to follow her big groundstrokes to the net and even breaking serve with a left-handed forehand winner.

By the time the second-set tie-break came around, it was Keys who had the momentum, and Andreeva was unable to shrug off her disappointment at the beginning of the deciding set.

She briefly threatened to turn things around again but Keys kept her composure while Andreeva lost hers and with it the match.

As expected, Royal Ascot winner Khaadem has been supplemented for the Pertemps Network July Cup at Newmarket on Saturday where he will clash with another Ascot hero, Shaquille.

Charlie Hills stated last week the “obvious target” for his surprise Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes scorer was the midsummer highlight on the July course, and the £36,000 supplementary fee was paid on Monday.

Julie Camacho’s Shaquille put up a remarkable display to win the Commonwealth Cup during the same meeting having missed the break, but this time he will have to beat his elders – as well as confirm form with Aidan O’Brien’s Ascot runner-up Little Big Bear.

Another northern raider, the Michael Dods-trained Azure Blue, is also strongly fancied on the back of her win in the Duke of York Stakes over Highfield Princess.

Kinross is in there for Ralph Beckett, but he will have to do without his usual partner Frankie Dettori, who is currently on the sidelines suspended.

Cold Case, Art Power and Run To Freedom are also among the 14 possibles.

Aidan O’Brien’s exciting City Of Troy is one of 12 in the bet365 Superlative Stakes.

The Justify colt won easily on his debut, making even the usual reticent Ryan Moore reach for the superlatives.

Charlie Appleby’s Great Truth and the Richard Hannon-trained duo of Son and Haatem are among his possible rivals.

There are 42 left in the bet365 Bunbury Cup, with Saeed bin Suroor’s Shining Blue at the top of the weights.

Chaldean is set for a break while connections attempt to get to the bottom of his lacklustre performance in the Prix Jean Prat.

Andrew Balding’s 2000 Guineas hero was dropping back in trip for the Deauville Group One having suffered defeat at the hands of Paddington in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot.

However, despite travelling with what appeared his usual zest close to the pace in the hands of Oisin Murphy, the Classic winner failed to pick up and his challenge faded tamely as Fabrice Chappet’s Good Guess ran out a convincing winner.

The Frankel colt will now be fully checked over to see if there is any physical reason for the below-par display or whether a busy early season has simply caught up with the Juddmonte-owned colt.

“It was obviously not the horse’s true running, but we’ll have to wait until the horse gets home to check him out fully to see if there is something there or whether it was he had a hard race in Ascot and was just flat,” said Barry Mahon, European racing manager for the owners.

“On all known form it was not his true running and we’ll just have to see if anything comes to light.

“I think he’ll have to have a break now. Whether there is something underlying or it just turns out he has run flat, we’ll have to wait and see, but I think he will need a break now to freshen up for the back-end of the year.”

There are still plenty of big-race options on the table for Chaldean when he does return, with a trip to the Breeders’ Cup a possibility for later in the season.

Mahon added: “There’s lots of races for him. There’s the Prix Jacques le Marois (August 13), the race at Ascot on Champions Day (Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, October 21) and the Breeders’ Cup Mile (November 4), so there will be plenty of opportunities for him.

“I always felt the Breeders’ Cup would suit him, especially this year at Santa Anita, but we’ll have to see. We’ll get him checked out first and we know that wasn’t his true running.”

However, there was some joy for the owners this weekend as Ralph Beckett’s Westover enjoyed a more successful venture to France to pick up his second Group One in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud.

Last year’s Irish Derby winner had run fine races in defeat to finish second in both the Dubai Sheema Classic and Coronation Cup so far this term, but produced a brilliant display to open his four-year-old account.

“To start the season behind Equinox was a good run and he ran a great race in the Coronation and it’s now nice to get the Group One at Saint-Cloud and make him a dual Group One winner,” said Mahon.

“To break the track record was a special feat when you consider so many great champions have won that race over the years.”

Westover holds an entry for the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes at Ascot on July 29 and although that will remain high-up in connections’ thoughts, there is a chance that could come too soon following his heroic exertions in the Paris suburbs.

“I was talking to Ralph last night and we said we will definitely keep it (King George) under consideration,” continued Mahon.

“He’s had a hard race on Saturday – you don’t break the track record without having a hard race – and it’s not a huge amount of time between now and the King George. It will very much depend on the horse’s well-being and we’ll let the horse tell us.

“He is in everything and has options everywhere. He could go to an Irish Leger (September 10), he could go to an Arc (October 1), he could go to a Breeders’ Cup Turf (November 4). He could even go to Hong Kong and he’s in everything. He’s there to be enjoyed and we will see what Prince Khalid’s family would like to do and see as we go along.

“He’s mentally and physically more mature now and he’s a good traveller. In a race he’s adaptable which is great and we think he’s on an upwards curve.”

Chaldean is set for a break while connections attempt to get to the bottom of his lacklustre performance in the Prix Jean Prat.

Andrew Balding’s 2000 Guineas hero was dropping back in trip for the Deauville Group One having suffered defeat at the hands of Paddington in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot.

However, despite travelling with what appeared his usual zest close to the pace in the hands of Oisin Murphy, the Classic winner failed to pick up and his challenge faded tamely as Fabrice Chappet’s Good Guess ran out a convincing winner.

The Frankel colt will now be fully checked over to see if there is any physical reason for the below-par display or whether a busy early season has simply caught up with the Juddmonte-owned colt.

“It was obviously not the horse’s true running, but we’ll have to wait until the horse gets home to check him out fully to see if there is something there or whether it was he had a hard race in Ascot and was just flat,” said Barry Mahon, European racing manager for the owners.

“On all known form it was not his true running and we’ll just have to see if anything comes to light.

“I think he’ll have to have a break now. Whether there is something underlying or it just turns out he has run flat, we’ll have to wait and see, but I think he will need a break now to freshen up for the back-end of the year.”

There are still plenty of big-race options on the table for Chaldean when he does return, with a trip to the Breeders’ Cup a possibility for later in the season.

Mahon added: “There’s lots of races for him. There’s the Prix Jacques le Marois (August 13), the race at Ascot on Champions Day (Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, October 21) and the Breeders’ Cup Mile (November 4), so there will be plenty of opportunities for him.

“I always felt the Breeders’ Cup would suit him, especially this year at Santa Anita, but we’ll have to see. We’ll get him checked out first and we know that wasn’t his true running.”

However, there was some joy for the owners this weekend as Ralph Beckett’s Westover enjoyed a more successful venture to France to pick up his second Group One in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud.

Last year’s Irish Derby winner had run fine races in defeat to finish second in both the Dubai Sheema Classic and Coronation Cup so far this term, but produced a brilliant display to open his four-year-old account.

“To start the season behind Equinox was a good run and he ran a great race in the Coronation and it’s now nice to get the Group One at Saint-Cloud and make him a dual Group One winner,” said Mahon.

“To break the track record was a special feat when you consider so many great champions have won that race over the years.”

Westover holds an entry for the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes at Ascot on July 29 and although that will remain high-up in connections’ thoughts, there is a chance that could come too soon following his heroic exertions in the Paris suburbs.

“I was talking to Ralph last night and we said we will definitely keep it (King George) under consideration,” continued Mahon.

“He’s had a hard race on Saturday – you don’t break the track record without having a hard race – and it’s not a huge amount of time between now and the King George. It will very much depend on the horse’s well-being and we’ll let the horse tell us.

“He is in everything and has options everywhere. He could go to an Irish Leger (September 10), he could go to an Arc (October 1), he could go to a Breeders’ Cup Turf (November 4). He could even go to Hong Kong and he’s in everything. He’s there to be enjoyed and we will see what Prince Khalid’s family would like to do and see as we go along.

“He’s mentally and physically more mature now and he’s a good traveller. In a race he’s adaptable which is great and we think he’s on an upwards curve.”

Wimbledon chief executive Sally Bolton offered no guarantees that an earlier start time will be considered on Centre Court for next year’s tournament.

Matches involving Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic have both been forced into a second day because they have not finished before the 11pm curfew while Djokovic’s third-round match against Stan Wawrinka concluded with 14 minutes to spare.

Two years ago organisers cited Covid for the decision to stagger start times on the two main show courts, keeping Court One at 1pm and pushing Centre back to 1.30pm, while also adding breaks between the matches.

This had the consequence of making the final match of the day a prime-time occasion on the BBC and it appears very much that is now the goal, with Bolton reporting record viewing figures.

She did not seem to view the issue of the late finishes as a particular problem, saying: “Historically over many, many decades we’ve always started play on our show courts around early afternoon.

“And that’s very much about ensuring that people have the opportunity to get on court so, as much as is possible the case, we have full courts for when the players walk on, and that’s still absolutely our intention.

“And the other thing we think carefully about is, when people buy a ticket to come to Wimbledon, they want to experience a day at the Championships and that involves going and seeing some play on outside courts, perhaps going to get something to eat, getting some strawberries and cream.

“We understand that our guests want that whole day. Of course every year we look at everything and we get feedback from all of our guest groups, from the player groups and all of our stakeholders.

“We will have a look at that beyond this year’s Championships but that’s the real background to why we have the start time when we do.

“Matches are happening at a time when they’re accessible to people. We’re seeing (TV) viewing figures that are beyond our expectations and beyond previous years so I think they probably speak for themselves.”

Bolton denied the 1.30pm start time was directly influenced by the BBC, saying: “The broadcasters are one of the stakeholders we consult as we put together all the plans for the Championships but they’re not having a direct input into start time on a court.”

The curfew is imposed by the local council to prevent late-night disruption from people leaving the grounds in what is a quiet, residential area, and Bolton said the club would not look to try to extend it.

There will also be no instruction to umpires to inform crowds not to expect a handshake if a Ukrainian player faces a Russian or Belarusian.

Belarus’ Victoria Azarenka left Court One to deafening boos on Sunday night after acknowledging Svitolina with a raise of the racket, and was clearly furious at the reaction.

There were similar and repeated scenes at the French Open, and Svitolina believes tennis authorities need to act to ensure crowds are aware of the situation.

“We’ve no intention of doing that,” said Bolton. “Historically in tennis the decision on how a player reacts at the end of a match is entirely a personal decision for them and I think we don’t really want to start mandating what happens.

“I think we have an incredibly knowledgeable audience at Wimbledon and I think in the most part they would understand what was going on. I wouldn’t want to speculate on what everybody in the crowd was thinking last night.

“I would echo what Elina and Vika said. Having witnessed one of the most incredible matches on number one court to an absolutely rapt audience, we should be focusing on the tennis and the match we saw, not all of the other stuff that went on.”

The issue is unlikely to come up again, with Svitolina the only remaining Ukrainian and set to take on top seed Iga Swiatek next, while the Russians and Belarusians left are all in the other half of the draw.

It has been a strong showing from Russians and Belarusians following the lifting of last year’s ban, with seven making the fourth round across the men’s and women’s singles.

The prospect of the Princess of Wales giving a trophy to a player from one of the two countries was cited as a factor in last year’s ban, and that is a very real possibility.

“When we made the decision earlier this year to admit Russians and Belarusians, we thought really carefully about all of those things and, having made the decision to admit them, we are comfortable about how that plays out,” added Bolton.

Red Bull equalled a Formula One record in Sunday’s British Grand Prix with their 11th consecutive win as Max Verstappen closes in on a landmark of his own.

Here, the PA news agency looks at how the dominant Dutchman and his team compare to the greats of the grid.

Channelling Prost and Senna

Verstappen has won eight of this season’s 10 races, with team-mate Sergio Perez taking the other two.

Verstappen also won last season’s final race and not since the great McLaren pairing of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost has a single team dominated to such an extent.

The 1988 season began in Brazil and while Senna was disqualified from his home race for an illegal car change, Prost took the chequered flag.

Senna won in San Marino and he and Prost shared the next four races equally before Prost recorded a home win in the French Grand Prix.

Four straight wins for Senna followed before Ferrari’s Gerhard Berger broke the streak in Italy, the only race all season not won by McLaren as they and Senna won a championship double with Prost close behind in second in the drivers’ standings.

That is the case for Verstappen and Perez this season as well, albeit with Verstappen almost 100 points clear of his team-mate.

Verstappen added Bahrain and Australia to last season’s success in Abu Dhabi, alternating at the start of the season with Perez’s wins in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan before taking sole control.

Mercedes had three separate runs of 10 successive wins during Lewis Hamilton’s period of dominance, with Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari team also hitting double figures in 2002.

Six of the best

Since the start of May, Verstappen has won the Miami, Monaco, Spanish, Canadian, Austrian and now British Grands Prix to match Schumacher’s run of six straight wins across the 2000 and 2001 seasons.

He already sits joint fifth on the all-time list and has the chance to quickly climb the rankings further.

Of the four names ahead of him on the list, three saw their streak end at seven wins in a row – meaning victory in Hungary later this month would leave only Sebastian Vettel’s record of nine straight wins in 2013 for Verstappen to chase.

Alberto Ascari has a claim to matching that record. The Italian won the last six races of the 1952 season and the Argentine Grand Prix at the start of 1953 before not entering the Indianapolis 500, which at the time was part of the drivers’ championship. He went on to win the Dutch and Belgian GPs on his next two starts.

Schumacher won seven in a row in 2004, as did Nico Rosberg at the end of 2015 and the start of his 2016 title-winning season.

Verstappen’s win on Sunday took him clear of Hamilton’s longest run of five wins, set in both 2014 and 2020, and his own previous best from last season.

With eight wins out of 10, his current 80 per cent win rate would be the highest ever if he can sustain it all season – beating Ascari’s 75 per cent in 1952, when there were only eight races in total – and the first over 70 per cent since Schumacher in 2004.

Laurel will miss the rest of the season due to the injury which saw her ruled out of Royal Ascot.

John and Thady Gosden’s lightly-raced daughter of Kingman was due to line-up in the Duke of Cambridge Stakes at the summer showcase, but was a late absentee having suffered setback the weekend before her intended engagement.

Connections did have their sights on a quick return in the Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket later this week.

But it appears the issue is more serious than first envisaged with the Group One-placed filly set to remain on the sidelines for the rest of the current campaign and a decision on her future still to be made.

“Unfortunately she is going to miss the rest of the season,” explained Barry Mahon, European racing manager for owners Juddmonte.

“Initially it looked like it was going to be an insignificant thing, but it turned out to be a bit more than we thought.

“She’s on her way back to the farm for a rest, she definitely won’t run again this season and it is to be decided whether she stays in training next year or not.

“She’s a very lightly-raced filly and John and Thady both said to me last week they would love to keep her in training next year.

“She’s a high-class filly who could win a Group One and she’s only run five times in her life so I can sort of understand their point and maybe that is the right thing to do. But we will speak with Prince Khalid’s family and see what they would like to do and unfortunately she won’t be running again this season.”

Tom Pidcock believes he is learning more about himself and his capabilities on a bike as he tests himself in the general classification at the Tour de France.

The 23-year-old Olympic mountain bike champion went into Monday’s rest day seventh overall, five minutes 26 seconds off yellow having picked up time on a number of rivals as he finished fourth amongst the overall contenders after a breakaway triumphed on Sunday’s stage atop the Puy de Dome.

Pidcock, who memorably won the stage on the Alpe d’Huez on his Tour debut last summer, began this year’s race wanting to see if he had the discipline and consistency to stay high on the general classification, not having a bad day across the full three weeks.

As he sat exhausted at the top of the mountain on Sunday he had said he still wanted a stage win “and then I’ll be happy”, but when he spoke on Monday Pidcock was looking at the bigger picture.

“I’m enjoying it,” the Ineos Grenadiers rider said. “I’m getting a bit better. With each test I’m improving and staying near the front, it’s actually motivating me.

“Before if you’d said racing for top 10 I wouldn’t really be so bothered but actually now I’m really enjoying the challenge and each little win.

“I wouldn’t normally have the patience and focus required for three weeks riding the GC, it’s not really in my characteristics but now I’m kind of enjoying it. It’s my first actual time riding with senior pros in a proper stage race like this, it’s all kind of new and I’m enjoying it…

“I’m growing in confidence and just exploring my limits.”

After Michael Woods won from a breakaway, Sunday’s stage saw Tadej Pogacar take eight seconds out of defending champion and race leader Jonas Vingegaard’s advantage in their battle for yellow.

But Simon Yates and Pidcock were the next riders over the line, a result that moved the Yorkshireman up two places from ninth overall.

“Yesterday was a great day and if I can replicate that again, that’s fantastic,” Pidcock said. “The next two weeks now, there are some pretty tough days ahead, back-to-back days and three days in the Alps and it’s going to be a big test.

“Week two into week three is where cracks start to show. My goal is to be consistent. Personally, in my head, it’s becoming more of a challenge and a target to see where I can go on GC because I’m enjoying it.

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“If that means I don’t get a stage win maybe that’s the case but I feel I can learn a lot about myself if I fully commit to the GC now.”

Pidcock has ambitions to one day challenge for yellow himself in the Tour, but for now the former world cyclo-cross champion continues to compete across different disciplines – and will be back on his mountain bike at next month’s world championships in Scotland.

How these next two weeks go will tell Pidcock a lot about what he might be able to do in the future.

“As soon as we finish this race I’m going to be going to try and win the mountain bike worlds, which is not very normal for all the people I’m racing against, it’s a bit strange,” he said when asked if this Tour was making him change the way he thinks about balancing his goals.

“I don’t know. We’ll see in a week’s time.”

Royal Ascot runner-up Sacred will head to Deauville for her next appearance with the Prix Maurice de Gheest identified by William Haggas as the perfect destination for his versatile mare.

The Cheveley Park Stud-owned five-year-old has been a consistent performer for connections throughout her career and won on reappearance at Lingfield in the Chartwell Fillies’ Stakes in May.

However, she was narrowly denied when taking her chance in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes for the second season in a row, having victory snatched from her grasp when headed late in the day by the fast-finishing Khaadem.

The daughter of Exceed And Excel holds entries over a mile closer to home over the next month, but following her fine effort at Ascot, Haggas is keen to keep Sacred to sprinting distances and will send her across the Channel for the six-and-a-half-furlong Group One in early August.

“She’s fine and we’re aiming her at the Prix Maurice de Gheest on August 6 which is a Group One over six and a half furlongs,” said Haggas.

“She likes going to her races relatively fresh, so she will go there and there is nothing overly obvious for her in the meantime.

“She’s in the Sussex, but I think we felt she ran very well over six furlongs at Ascot and six and a half in Deauville, providing the ground isn’t soft, should be fine for her.”

Haggas also revealed that My Prospero will head to York for the Sky Bet York Stakes on July 29 as the four-year-old attempts to tee-up a Knavesmire return for the Juddmonte International Stakes during the Ebor Festival.

“He’ll go for the Sky Bet at York,” added Haggas.

“He didn’t run as well as I hoped at Ascot. He didn’t run badly, but it wasn’t as well as I hoped and he will go to York and if he wins and wins nicely he will go back there for the Juddmonte.”